Pool reports from the President’s Bay Area stops

Here’s the press pool report, unedited, as filed moments ago by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Carla Marinucci from President Barack Obama’s motorcade; I’ll update with subsequent ones as they come in.

Event: DNC fundraiser

Location: Atherton, CA home of former State Controller Steve Westly and his wife, Anita Yu

Details: President Obama met with Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the Westin Hotel for 45 minutes to talk about technology, education and innovation issues.

The Obama motorcade hit 380 and then 280 South to head to Atherton, where it was greeted by about 50 protesters carrying signs, “Hello FDR recovery,” “Good bye, Wall Street traitors,” “Obamanator,” and “Kills jobs, kills hope.” Also saw “Repeal Don’t ask, don’t tell.”

Press vans are left outside the sprawling ranch home surrounded by olive trees and lush vegetation.

Obama [is] doing a $6500 a head photo op event for Kamala Harris, San Francisco District Attorney and Democratic candidate for AG, and about 50 people are present for the $30,400 a head DNC fundraiser inside Westly’s house.

Setting: Large brown shingled home in “Professorville” area of Palo Alto was decorated with huge blow up Halloween decorations, inside about 50 diners inside wood beamed dining room… with Giants-Phillies game updates at the ready throughout the President’s fundraiser, where donors paid $30,400 to dine in an intimate setting as the president roamed around to talk to them.

Obama entered through the kitchen to be greeted with warm applause and standing ovation from the crowd, which included Democratic fundraiser and Silicon Valley insider Wade Randlett.

Before he spoke, Mayer’s husband Zachary Bogue delivered the news: “First, an important announcement, Giants game is 3-2 Phillies.’’

“Despite the game, we want to thank you all for being here,’’ said Bogue, standing next to Mayer.

Mayer reminded the crowd that the garage where Silicon Valley giant Hewlett Packard was founded “is just a few blocks away.’’

“As an engineer in Silicon Valley, I’m very optimistic,’’ that the foundation for “a strong and healthy economy” has been laid, she said.

“Tonight is really about camaraderie, as well as about optimism..these are two traits that have really drawn a lot of us to the president,’’ she said.

She noted that “I met him for the first time in 2003 when he came to Google as a state Senator…it is my great honor to introduce him as the 44th President of the United States.”

Obama told the diners to sit down and said “I’m not going to bore you with a long speech.”

“My main message is to say thank you to Zachary and Marissa for opening up this wonderful home….I was especially thrilled to see the pumpkins and the Halloween stuff out there.”

That’s because “I will be home on Sunday night when the girls get dressed up and do some trick or treating,’’ he said.

He noted that he sees “a lot of old friends” here and “some new ones as well.”

Obama said he remembered his first visit to Google years ago, where he first met Mayer, and said “it spoke to the….American idea, that if we’re innovating, if people have the tools to let their imaginations run, then there’s nothing we can’t do in this country.”

He said that America is now coming out of “a decade in which, frankly, that can do spirit had been lost.’’

He noted that the country is going through a tough economic times. But he said his task “hasn’t just been to stop the bleeding,” but to find out how the country can deal with the issues “that have prevented more Googles from being created.”

“We’ve made a start on all these fronts,’’ he said. “Our education agenda has been as innovative and aggressive as anything we’ve seen.”

“We have tackled things like health care that have been weights around the necks of… individuals and families,’ he said.

“We’re taking on clean energy in ways that we haven’t seen before,’’ made the largest investment in clean energy in history, and “we’re seeing solar panels and wind turbines” all across the country, he said.

“I’m optimistic about the future, but in the short term, we’ve got a long way to go. There are a lot of people out there that are hurting,’’ he said. “A lot of kids who still aren’t sure that they can finance their college education.”

“In an environment where people are frustrated and hurting,’’ he said, the mission is now about “going forwards,’’ not going backwards.

“In a place like California, frankly, as many people as I meet, I can’t meet everybody… you help us do that,’’ he said to the donors.

“I’m grateful to you. We are excited about the last 10 days,’’ he said, noting he has traveled to Oregon, Ohio.

“As we travel around the country… although everybody recognizes the last two years have been tough,’’ what has been “remarkable” is the “degree of resilience.”

Obama said he wanted to “have a chance to talk to all of you, and hear from all of you.”

But he added with a laugh that “if at any time people want to come in here and get an update on the Giants game, I’m perfectly happy.”

The press was retired to Mayer’s basement, where there’s a full screening room playing the Giants-Phillies game on big screen, and a real snack bar, completely with popcorn machine and big box candy.

Josh Richman

Josh Richman covers state and national politics for the Bay Area News Group.
A New York City native, he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and reported for the Express-Times of Easton, Pa. for five years before coming to the Oakland Tribune and ANG Newspapers in 1997.
He is a frequent guest on KQED Channel 9’s “This Week in Northern California;” a proud father; an Eagle Scout; a somewhat skilled player of low-stakes poker; a rather good cook; a firm believer in the use of semicolons; and an unabashed political junkie who will never, EVER seek elected office.